Adelaide mumfluencer Renee Barendregt quits TikTok as viral toddler video sparks death threats
What a single Aussie mum thought was a harmless clip of her son’s creative antics has caught the attention of TikTok trolls around the globe.
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An Australian mumfluencer has quit TikTok after recieving death threats over a video of her toddler’s creative antics.
Adelaide’s Renee Barendregt has been forced to shut down her account after a video she shared of her one-year-old son painting furniture instead of his plaster figurine at the Plaster Fun House sparked online fury.
The clip racked up hundreds of thousands of views from across the globe with online trolls flooding Ms Barendregt’s comments, DMs and emails with messages of hate and even death threats.
It’s not the first time the single mum has been in the news for her parenting content with a video criticising her neighbour who complained about her sons kicking a ball into her fence going viral last year.
In April, Ms Barendregt made headlines again after taking to TikTok to blast a Gold Coast restaurant who allegedly refused service after her toddler would not sit in his chair.
Despite the backlash being all too familiar, Ms Barendregt told The Advertiser that this recent online frenzy was her “final straw”.
“There is a limit and when it got to the point of the constant harassment and I would wake up and my phone would be blown up with not just subtle trolls, these are like next level … that degree is not acceptable,” Ms Barendregt said.
“If I was not in a good way and my mental health was at an all time low, that could easily send someone over the edge.”
Adding to the mania, the 35-year-old’s video was reacted to and shared by other influencers from overseas with Ms Barendregt accusing them of spreading “false narratives”.
“It just got to a point where I was like my kids don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve it,” Ms Barendregt said.
“Sharing this stuff on TikTok used to bring me joy and I used to connect and have beautiful relationships with other mothers and parents but these are people that don’t actually know me or my children and are making these horrible assumptions about our life.”
The mum-of-three acknowledges that by posting online she is opening herself up to criticism but said the latest barrage was beyond anything else she has experienced in her eight years of creating content.
“I have learnt a lot from TikTok in terms of social media (and) you’re obviously not always going to get people who agree with you and I’ve always been open to that and open to healthy discussions and healthy opinions and views,” Ms Barendregt said.
“I have got such a beautiful community on Instagram and even when some of the mums who have been following me for a long time don’t agree with me, they say it in a respectful way whereas TikTok was completely different, people were very harsh in their approach and cruel by the end of it.”
While she said she is not the “perfect parent” Ms Barendregt firmly denies haters’ speculations that she deliberately creates ‘ragebait’ – a term used to describe content made to anger viewers and increase engagement.
“There was not once when I thought ‘yay this is going to stir things up, I can’t wait for the hate’ … it’s not nice to get hate,” she said.
“I think if there was anyone sincerely doing that I think that would be very sick to do.”
Moving forward, Ms Barendregt said she has learned that “TikTok is not for (her)” and will continue making content for Instagram where she has had “barely” any hate.
“I got to a point with TikTok when (haters) started talking about my children in a negative way …(and) they’ve got no control over that, that’s on me,” Ms Barendregt said.
“It’s our job to protect our kids (and) I definitely put a limit on, and thought into what I post on Instagram about the boys.”
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Originally published as Adelaide mumfluencer Renee Barendregt quits TikTok as viral toddler video sparks death threats
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